Bathtime
by Lil-Samuu
Summary: During game oneshot. Lloyd, Colette and Sheena try to give Noishe a bath.


A fic set during the game. A bit of silly nonsense fluff featuring Noishe, Lloyd, Colette and Sheena. Apparently bathing an arshis is not an easy task. :)

Kasan Soulblade had the idea of Noishe dunking Lloyd in a river (well, I think it was Noishe in her fic where Lloyd got dunked in the river anyways), credit to her for that idea.

Dedication: for Kasan and Urby, who both appreciate Noishe.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia, Namco own it I believe.

* * *

Of all the things they had tried to do on their quest, Lloyd thought, one of the more difficult tasks was trying to give Noishe a bath. 

It amused him that when the others wanted help with carrying their stuff or a ride on the creature's back to give their aching feet a rest Noishe seemed to belong to the group but when the arshis needed a bath suddenly people changed their mind and he was Lloyd's dog.

Colette usually tried to help him wash the large creature and, later in the quest, Sheena offered to help too. You would think, Lloyd thought, that with three people the task would be easier. Noishe, however, didn't seem to want to accept that logic.

So far this time they'd managed to get Noishe near the lake, that was the easy part, but they'd not yet managed to persuade him to get in it. Lloyd wondered why it was that if they were jumping into the water to play Noishe would eagerly leap into the water with them but if shampoo was involved the arshis would battle against getting into the water.

Colette tried the bribery approach, telling Noishe that if he was a good boy she'd give him a biscuit when they were finished. She held out a couple of biscuits she had pulled out of her pocket to prove that she had biscuits with her and so could give the large creature the promised treat as soon as his bath was over.

A look of fear crossed her face as Noishe padded closer to her with a look in his eyes that said 'I'm going to eat those biscuits _now_'. She knew Noishe would never intentionally hurt any of them but when biscuits and baths were involved he didn't seem to mind playing a little unfairly to get what he wanted.

"Noishe, sit, I said you could have a biscuit _after _your bath," the small blonde tried to sound authoritative but the fact that she was backing away from the creature who was slowly padding forward didn't help back up her tone of voice.

"Noishe, no, sit," Lloyd tried to get the arshis to behave then lunged forward as the green and white animal leapt towards Colette and, in one swift movement, snapped the biscuits out of her hand and pushed the small angel into the river. The water wasn't too deep but by the time she'd managed to get a hold on the bank she was soaked.

"Noishe, that's bad, don't do that. Now you get in the water this instant!" Lloyd barked, trying to do his best 'I am the boss, don't be naughty' voice. Noishe turned to face him and an expression similar to the one that Colette had worn just before she'd been dunked in the river appeared on Lloyd's face. Noishe's expression clearly showed that the large creature was thinking 'how about _you _get in the water instead?'

"Uh oh," Lloyd yelped as he turned to run away from the arshis. The dog-like animal stretched, padded after the swordsman then pounced, grabbing the back of his shirt.

"No, Noishe, it's not my turn for a bath now, no, no, noooooooooo!" the brown haired boy screamed as he, too, was dunked in the river.

Noishe turned to face Sheena, wondering what her tactic to try and get him into the water was going to be. Backing away from the bank of the river, not too keen on the idea of being dumped into the cold water like the other two had been, Sheena tried to reason with the arshis.

"Come on now Noishe, you need a bath. It'll be nice, we'll get all the dirt out of your fur, give you a nice scritch between your ears when we rub the shampoo in. You like being scritched between your ears don't you?" she said in a friendly tone.

Noishe looked over to where Lloyd and Colette were trying to climb up the slippery river bank out of the water. The couple were complaining that the water was cold. Then he looked back at Sheena and shook his head, making a shivering gesture to show that he was not impressed by being instructed to get into water of that temperature.

"You can sit by the fire when your bath's over. Colette'll brush your fur for you too I expect. That'll be nice, won't it? A nice brush. Go on," the summoner said.

Noishe shook his head then moved forward, making the ninja take a step back. Her back bumped against a tree trunk. Guessing what the arshis's next move would be Sheena tried to run around the tree and away from the river. She was no match for Noishe's speed, however, and she soon joined Lloyd and Colette in the water.

"Noishe, bad dog! You're a very bad dog!" Lloyd grumbled as he once again slipped on the mud of the river bank and fell back into the water. Noishe looked at him with an expression that said 'I don't care, you're in the cold water and I'm not' before doing a little victory dance.

Doing the dance was, however, a mistake. Colette and Sheena managed to catch him off guard and pull his front paws onto the bank where the slippery mud caused him to slide into the water as he was unable to get a good grip on the soggy ground.

He gave a whine of protest at being dunked in the water but finally admitted defeat as his three friends pinned him down. Colette grabbed a bottle of shampoo from the riverbank and started to lather some up on Noishe's fur.

"There now, see, we're going to make you smell all fresh and clean and nice. You won't have dirt in your fur any more and you won't get Raine complaining about the way you smell all the time now," Sheena said, giving him a consoling pat between his ears.

"Although maybe it's a good idea for you to stay away from her for a little while after your bath," Colette said to the large dog-like creature.

"Why's that?" Lloyd asked, rubbing shampoo into Noishe's back.

"Wet dog smell," Colette said, nodding sagely. Lloyd groaned, having been reminded of another unpleasant aspect of giving Noishe a bath. He would, he thought as he vigorously lathered shampoo on the arshis's coat, be so very glad when Noishe's bath time was over.


End file.
